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Friday, 20 March 2015

SWAZI JOURNALIST’S PRISON LETTER

On 18 March 2014, two
Swaziland journalists Bheki Makhubu, the editor of the Nation magazine, and human rights lawyer and journalist, Thulani
Maseko, were detained in jail on contempt of court charges after they wrote and
published articles critical of the Swazi judiciary. In July 2014 they were both
sentenced to two years jail.

The jailings, in the
kingdom ruled by King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa’s last absolute monarch,
have been condemned throughout the world.

To mark the first
anniversary of the detention, Thulani Maseko has written the following letter
from his jail cell in appreciation of the support he and Makhubu have received.

A Letter Of Appreciation To The World’s Human
Family For The Solidarity With Our Just Cause -By Thulani Rudolf Maseko

The biblical Joseph is
recorded in scripture as having said that, “You plotted evil against me, but
God turned it into good.” And John C. Maxwell tells us “Joseph waited 14 years
in prison for a crime he did not commit.” The bible has many men who spent time
in prison on the orders of the rulers and kings of those times.

Surely, yes surely, our
captors, the architects and proponents of Swaziland’s oppressive
Tinkhundla regime, harbor intentions to hurt us so that we submit to their
evil desires. And there is some good that has been the result of our
persecution. Tinkhundla denialists, cynics, and prophets of doom do not accept
it, but there can be no question that our conviction and prison sentence
sharply drew the world’s focus to Swaziland in a manner unprecedented in recent
times. In the light of the above scripture, this is the good God had intended,
for he is the God of freedom, justice and equality. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond
Tutu and daughter Mpho Tutu remind us that, “God has a profound reverence for
our freedom. I often say that God would rather we go freely to hell than we be
compelled to enter heaven.” Tinkhundla, has for so long, denied us our
God-given fundamental human rights and basic freedoms and civil liberties. We
seek to retain these, our rights and freedoms, no matter what price we have to
pay. We shall never surrender.

There is yet another
prisoner who spent 27 years in jail for his beliefs. This is the prisoner, in
respect of whom, President Barack Obama said: “To the people of South Africa,
people of every race and walk of life, the world thanks you for sharing Nelson
Mandela with us.” Speaking for all of us, President Obama continued: “His
struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope
found expression in his life and your freedom. Your democracy is his cherished
legacy.” How beautiful these words! Although on different conditions and
circumstances, Mandela’s ideals are our ideals too.

In the context of those
of us who are doing time in jail for what we believe in, the same ideals that
drove Mandela, what better person is there to inspire, us if not Madiba
himself? We know that those who have thrown us in jail are determined to do so
in the future, and that they have acted out of prejudice. They have intended to
hurt us, to break our spirit, our moral strength and crash our resilience so
that we succumb to their evil desires. But we derive strength knowing that the
world has stood, and continues to stand, with us and by us.

Prison is indeed meant to
crush us because the conditions are horrendous. As Mandela said in 1967, we say
so in 2015, from the king’s prison in Swaziland that for instance, “no pillows
are provided and we forced to use other articles…as pillows.” Not only are we
denied proper bedding such as pillows and bedding sheets, we do not “have the
right to sleep in pyjamas.” One is forced to either to “sleep naked with only
blankets as a cover,” or sleep in one’s own prison garments, turned inside out,
to keep them neat and clean.

Over and above this, we
must put up with sleeping on the floor and use tiny canvas mats. To spice it
all, prison life is routine, including the meals of cabbage, beans and a very
small piece of chicken. Just as much as the barbaric and oppressive Tinkhundla
regime seeks to deny and deprive us of our value as full human beings, it is
absolutely correct that “prison and the authorities conspire to rob each man of
his dignity. Prison not only robs you of your freedom, it attempts to take away
your identity.”

So, while we fight the
many injustices and indignities of Tinkhundla outside these prison walls, we
have almost similar battles to fight in prison. And the early campaigners of
human rights, freedom and democracy on whose footsteps we follow were right
that prison, for all intents and purposes, is a minor image of the bigger
system outside.

In spite of the prison
hardships, we are not deterred. We are not discouraged. We are not fazed. We
are not shaken. We are not intimidated. Yes, we are not broken.

While President Obama
spoke well for all of us in thanking South Africa for sharing Madiba with the
world, we are also grateful for the life of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Here is a leader who said: “Nobody with any sense likes to go to jail. But if
he puts you in jail, you go in that jail and transform it from a dungeon of
shame to a haven of freedom and human dignity.” And he goes on to say,” and
even when he tries to kill you, you develop the inner conviction that there are
some things so dear, some things so priceless, some things so externally true
that they are worth dying for.” This is the man who tells us that, “and I
submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for,
he isn’t fit to live.”

Please allow us to say
that we are in prison because we are very fit to live. We are not ashamed, for
there is nothing to be ashamed of for standing up for what is right, what is
high, what is noble. There is nothing to be ashamed of for standing up for good
against an evil system. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of for
standing up for something great. We are not broken because these, our teachers,
these our mentors, tell us that if some ideals are worth living for, then they
are equally worth sacrificing for, and if need be, are worth dying for.

As we draw to a
conclusion, it pains us to hear the leaders of our country raising a
hullaballoo about “enemies of the country,” people who “tarnish the image of
the country,” and the “jealous people.” We want to say that the true and real
enemies of Swaziland, and its people, are those who are opposed to democracy.
The true enemies of Swaziland, and its people, are those who undermine the rule
of law. The true jealous people are those who continue to trample, suppress and
abuse the fundamental human rights and basic freedoms and civil liberties of
the rank and file of our people. Those who say we attack and condemn the
country are completely missing the point, are misguided and misdirected.

Swaziland, our country,
is a tiny and beautiful land. Its people are humble, equally beautiful and
equally hospitable. It is the Tinkhundla system that has an image problem. And
this distinction is important. If Tinkhundla, as a system of government has any
image at all, it has an image of oppression, and it only has itself to blame.

You see, Tinkhundla must
realize that, at best, it is like a Christian who refuses to accept that all
have sinned and are in need of the grace of God. At worst, Tinkhundla, by its
very nature and character, is like a man, or a drunken man, who looks at
himself in the mirror and sees how horrible he looks and then says, “O, this is
not me.” Such a man begins to point a figure and accuses his children and his
neighbours for his own self-created bad image. Accordingly, for as long as
Tinkhundla and the leadership of our country remain recalcitrant and intransigent
about change, we have a right, responsibly and obligation to name and shame it
until it succumbs to the demand for democratization.

In closing, the
Tinkhundla leaders, its supporters, its fans and proponents, may call us
whatever names they choose. They shall never conquer our spirits. They may keep
us in jail as much as they please, but they can never arrest our ideas. So, in
the final analysis, Madiba who inspires us right here in prison, is right when
he says: “It is only my flesh and bones that are shut up behind these tight
walls. Otherwise, I remain cosmopolitan in my outlook; in my thoughts I am as
free as a felon.”

Since that fateful day on
March 17, 2014 the failure of leadership in our country has been proved beyond
any shadow of doubt that Tinkhundla has dismally failed. We need to unite
around a discussion table to negotiate the birth of a new democratic society, a
new and democratic Swaziland. In the words of the great Mahatma Gandhi, we
seriously believe in the righteousness of our cause.

We are short of sweet and
beautiful words to express thanks to the thousands around the world who have
supported us. We cannot be more grateful. The great mentor speaks for us when
he says, “We shall never forget how millions around the world joined us in solidarity
to fight the injustice of our oppression while we were incarcerated.” Indeed,
we draw strength and sustenance from the knowledge that we are part of a
greater humanity.

Writing from a narrow
prison cell to the church of the Philippians, the charismatic Paul said: “I
think of you…because of the way in which you have helped me…you are always in
my heart.” From prison, we adopt Paul’s words as ours and say: Thank you, thank
you, and thank you. God bless you.